was_a_guru

I'm interested in some advice from some of you LR pros. I pretty much understand how to use LR. What I am looking for is a good way (I'm sure there is no "best" way) to rank/categorize my photos.

Here is how I initially classify my pics:
1. The obviously bad ones - out of focus, over/under exposed beyond correction, duplicates, errant unintentional shutter presses, etc. These would all get deleted to the recycle bin. Don't need/want them taking up room on my drive.
2. OK pics, but not great. This includes family events, family pics, routine vacation pics, museum pics, etc. - pics I may want to share on social media, but unlikely to develop in LR and/or print.
3. Good pics. May need some developing in LR. Possibly print and/or share on photo sharing sites (Deviant Art, Picfair, etc.)
4. Great pics. Ones that make me look like a pro. Definitely develop (as needed) in LR, share on photo sites, enter/show in exhibitions, etc.

There are many LR options for doing the above:
Folders
Collections
Key-wording
Star Ranking
Color Assignment
Text
and probably some I don't know about yet

I organize my pics (on my PC) as follows:
YYYY_Activity/Description i.e. 2017_Las Vegas Trip

in the folder are all the pics I took on that trip. The individual photos (for the above example) are named:
YYYY_DDMM_Las Vegas Trip_### (001, 002,...)

So I'm sure everyone of you has a different way of doing this and ranking/categorizing and I'm interested in what has worked well for you.

Thanks.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I use Lightroom for triage when I download a shoot.
I just download the whole card or cards. Then I press "E", which takes the first in the list and shows it in loupe view, a fairly large image so I can evaluate it. If it's worth working on I press "6", which gives it a red color label. If it's not worth working on I press the right arrow, which just moves to the next image. If it's total garbage I press "X", which marks it as a reject.

I can then filter on the rejects, select all, and press delete. I choose delete from disk.
I can then filter on images without a color label. I can delete them, choosing delete from catalog. That leaves them available for further use (which never happens).
I then have only the images that are worth working on.

Further information is in my page on workflow at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-page?upnum=1584
Further information on file organization is at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-page?upnum=1595

PS: I used to use index numbers to separate the files. But in the past couple years I started using different bodies with different lenses. That puts the images on different cards, and using index numbers would mix up the sequence. So now instead of an index number I use the time. Now I can sort them by file name and since the time is in the file name that organizes them chronologically. If you only use one camera body you can ignore this paragraph (now that you've already read it).

was_a_guru

Great idea. Thanks.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I don't use LR (or any cataloger) but what works for me is folder groupings by subject in the disk directory something like:
(I use the TAG field under file properties in Windows Explorer to add things like "lake"; "ocean"; etc. There is also a "rating" field (0-5 stars) that is available in Windows Explorer.) Dates for taken are in the file properties.)

\PHOTOS
......\_To Be Filed
......\Family
............\<Name 1>
............\<Name 2>
......\Places
............\Acadia
..................\2015-09
..................\2016-10
..................\2017-09
............\Valley Forge
..................\2016-10
..................\2017-07
............\Disney World
..................\Animal Kingdom
..................\Epcot
........................\2015-10
........................\2016-09
..................\Magic Kingdom
........................\2017-01
........................\2018-02
............\New Mexico
......\Trains
............\Mount Dora
............\Oneonta
............\WCRR
............\GMRR
......\Things
............\Locks
............\Animals

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Folders are for physical storage. I prefer a date-based organization with description as you've presented. Everything else is internal to LR where you can use all or some of the LR options. I prefer collections where I can place an image into multiple collections. Keywords help me filter search results, such as finding all bird images in the catalog across all collections. Or, only lion images for a given date from a collection of all images from a given zoo across multiple dates (a Library combination of Collection & Metadata & Keyword text). Some people use colors and stars as permanent identifiers. Personally, I use them for task-specific filtering and don't treat them as long-term identifiers such as give me all 5-star images within the catalog. Anything rejected (x) is deleted from disk, sometimes as I go or later as a final clean-up step.

For my purposes, all images receive the same LR effort. I have a sense of how many images will result from a shoot and spend a lot of up-front effort on culling before ever performing Develop actions. If "25" is the "right" number of useful images that should result, I don't start Develop until I have the culling down to at least 30ish. The shooting duration and subject matter will determine my own expected result of finished images and the approximate number I should cull down to before Develop. Given my reliance on keywords, I've learned to add keywords immediately after the import to avoid the frustration later to discover they're missing or otherwise incomplete.

At the end of the Develop effort, if the image is not good enough to be shared on at least one of multiple social media platforms I use, then it isn't worth keeping and is removed, even after effort spent in the Develop module. That includes otherwise "great" images that are really just near duplicates of another image from the same session and / or burst. The Compare view is useful for pitting two similar images against each other. For sorting finished images to target use, here I use stars to distinguish the target social media site and run site-specific Export presets against the filtered results. Although I might assume images with 3-stars were all shared to Facebook, that specific rating has developed over time and I don't trust my own rigor over the years that 3-stars always meant the same thing.

You may find colors and / or stars to be more permanent identifiers in your workflow. For me, collections and keywords and shooting-dates are the permanent identifiers within LR where I rarely have a need to revisit the source folders at the OS-level. I don't rename the image files so my folders are YYYYMMDD_<Description>. My bodies are configured to generate unique file names by camera body so I can shot with 2 or more digital bodies without conflict over filenames. The folders avoid the same file name overwriting an existing image as I do not create 10,000+ images on single shooting date with one body.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

I view photographs in the Library view and use the Lightroom Star feature. Out of focus, blurry beyond belief, etc get 1 star for later deletion. Images that need exposure adjustment that I may want to work on again get 2 stars. Photos that I want to share on Instagram/Facebook, etc get 3 stars (cropping to 1x1 required). 4 stars is applied after exposure processing if I want to edit in photoshop with more detailed work and 5 stars is applied to what I want to include in my on line portfolio or are hits with a bullet.

I use the purple colored block to flag what i want to export to Adobe Stock.

The rest, I don't really have an assignment for.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I think folders are useful for one level of organization, but Lightroom doesn't care where your photos are. LR excels at finding photos based on keywords and metadata. So I try to put a reasonably complete set of keywords on my photos. It makes it easy to find things in LR. Collections and sets are also a very useful way to organize things within LR.

However, I will not last forever, and when I'm gone there will be a bunch of family photos that will be (hopefully) of interest to some of my family (or even some of the organizations I work with). None of my family knows how to search in LR. For that reason I maintain a secondary level of organization based on folders and filenames. The subject is contained in the filename (along with the date and time) and the subject is the name of the folder they are contained in. That way photos can be found with standard computer search techniques. There are only a couple of older members of my family who don't use computers and they know enough to get some of the "kids" to take care of that stuff.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I use Elements but the options are similar in Organizer to what you have in LR. I use broad theme categories - Nature, Family, Trips, plus a few others. Each is broken down into subcategories with Family having the most subs - my family, wife's family, our family with sub-subs for kids, grandkids, siblings and so on. I also have one category called Artsy Stuff. I have numerous Events and Albums but don't use them all that much. And there inevitably ends up being a Miscellaneous but I try to keep that to a bare minimum, kind of like a place holder until I see a need for a new grouping. Since I'm mostly a snap shooter and shoot what interests me, this works pretty well. I also use a folder naming system with "yyyy mo dd(optional) brief description". That way my directory tree listing down the left side of the screen is in date order and I can scroll down through that almost as efficiently as using tags to find stuff as long as wha I'm looking for is important as to date.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

For me, every image imported gets 1 star and a color label of red, to indicate 'Not Yet Processed'. Like you, I delete out-of-focus/poorly composed images. Then, I start work.

Some images need the benefit of a pass through Photoshop and that image comes back as a PSD file. So, now I have a DNG and a PSD of the same image. In this case, the DNG is assigned the color Blue, to indicate it 'Original Image of an Edit'. If I start work on it, but decide to finish it later, I assign the Yellow color label to indicate 'Work in Progress'.

ALL finished images get the Green color label to indicate they are finished.

I use the Purple color label to indicate that I want to have someone critique it.

2 Stars indicate 'Best of the Shoot'
3 Stars indicate 'My Favorites'
4 Stars indicate the image is a candidate for 'My Portfolio'
5 Stars is reserved for the 'Best Images of my Life' (none of my images currently have 5 Stars)

Hope this generates some ideas for you.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Additionally, Elements has a save option that I always use, Save in Version Set, which contains the original whether RAW or JPEG plus all subsequent edits.

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

I use stars to denote quality of image, x to delete obvious junk. Then I process the 4 or 5 star ones and leave the rest for later.
I use the colors to categorize the photos, like "flowers", "winter", or whatever - helps me find related images no matter when I took them, and I can always sort by "date taken/created" for specific events.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I do it quite differently, but it works well for me.

First of all, I do all my downloading and folder organization outside LR... using my computer's operating system and browser. I create a folder for each day (though sometimes for a multi-day shoot that folder may be named for only the last day and may actually contain several day's work, each in its own sub-folder).

I name my primary folder YYYY_MM_DD. Sometimes I also append a word to that name to make the folder easier to spot when I go looking for it. That looks like YYYY_MM_DD_event.

Within each primary folder I create any needed sub-folders. There's nearly always a YYYY_MM_DD_RAW folder since that's what I mostly shoot. But there also may be a YYYY_MM_DD_JPEG or YYYY_MM_DD_Thumbnail or YYYY_MM_DD_Proofs folder for finished images. When I shoot an even with multiple photographers, I will create separate RAW and PROOF, etc. subfolders for each of us, with our initials appended to each to help identify them. I often also have a YYYY_MM_DD_Docs folder where I put digital copies of model releases, client contracts, second-shooter agreements, etc. for that day's work. There may be others, but I'm sure you get the idea.

After I download (actually "copy") all my images from my memory cards into the YYYY_MM_DD_RAW sub-folder inside the YYYY_MM_DD_event folder, I point Lightroom to it and tell it to import all those images. It's set up to add copyright info to the images during the import, but not do much else. Once all has been imported and sorted (by date/time taken), I have LR rename everthing YYYY_MM_DD_xxxx, where the latter is a numerical sequence. This puts all the images from multiple cameras into exact order (have to keep the cameras' clocks synced, though). If other photographers/second shooters are involved, their files are renamed with initials appended to them.

I also will add appropriate major (day/event wide) keywords to the images at this time, synced to all the images in the folder. And I then back up everything to a network drive. (As a precaution, I never erase images from memory cards or format my cards until the backup has been done successfully).

Now I'm ready to start selecting and editing images (actually I've usually already started, while things were downloading, etc. in the background... I'm impatient and can't wait to see the images )

I only use the star and color coding systems provided for organizational purposes.... for example, all the images of one particular competitor may be "blue5", meaning that they are blue color coded with 5 stars. If an image has more than one competitor and I want proofs of it for each of them, I create virtual copies and color/star code each of them appropriately.

While I'm doing the organizing using the color/star codes, I'm also going through image by image making my selections.... using only the flags: A "white"flagged image is a "keeper" that I'll proof out for the clients to see. An unflagged image is okay, but for some reason I won't be proofing it out. It might be a close duplicate... or someone's eyes might be closed... or whatever. But it may have some value (if nothing else, I've sometimes combined parts of two different images to make one good one), so I don't want to trash it. A "black" flagged image is going to get trashed. It's no good due to some issue.... an ugly expression, everyone's eyes closed, poor composition, missed focus, bad exposure, accidental shot of my toes, yada, yada. For the large party, I don't actually delete most of the black flagged images until later. Well, shots of my toes I might. But other stuff...who knows! I might need something from the corner or only the sky from it... and may not know it until I've completed editing that day's work. Eventually, though, I'll use the LR filter features to show me only the black flagged photos, select all and delete.

While I'm doing this I'm also doing a "quick edit". With that I'm only looking to produce small "proof quality" RAW conversions, to post online, print in a catalog, put on a disk or otherwise show to clients. I straighten horizons, set a crop (usually only use 5:4 and 3:2 ratios), tweak exposure, contrast, saturation and color a little as needed. I always have a lot of images to work through, so this is FAST.... maybe 30 seconds to a minute of editing per image typically. Again, the end goal is to produce smaller, lower resolution "proofs"... usually a max of 700 pixels on the long side. When they're output, they will be watermarked too.

When I've completed this process I use the filters in Lightroom to show me, for example, all the white flagged images for "competitor #xx blue/five".... which are then batch RAW converted as watermarked proof-size JPEGs. I'm set up to upload these automatically to online galleries during this process.... Or can burn them to a disk or put them in a folder on my computer... whatever is needed (I do usually make a set of copies for my computer, too.... in the primary folder mentioned above I'll also have a sub-folder for "competitor #xx, blue5". That can be handy when I am off line and need to quickly look at an image... besides, hard disk space is pretty cheap these days, I've been buying it for around $25 a terabyte, and even without being fanatical about my "digital housecleaning", usually end up with about 1.5TB added to storage each year.

I also try to remember to keyword images with names, etc. when I'm looking at the sub-set identified by the LR filter. But I probably forget that more often than not!

Later when my clients have made their selections from the proofs and let me know what product they want, I go back to Lightroom and look it up. Notice I have several ways of doing so... file name which references back to the folder date, keywords, etc. I also have a codex installed that allows me to display RAW, TIFF, PSD and some other file types in my computer's browser, that it's not normally able to display. That helps at times, too.

Once I've located the file, I usually need to do some additional tweaks to it in Lightroom... changing the crop or whatever, depending upon how it's going to be used. This is also pretty quick. I then pass it off to Photoshop for finishing work. That may only take a few minutes.... or it can take a lot longer, depending upon what's needed. For example, I do any retouching in Photoshop, because it's so slow and crude in LR. I also may make a virtual copy of an image in LR to be able to adjust a sunlit background differently than a shaded subject and foreground, combining the correct portions of each image in PS (which can't be done in LR). But I only take select images to this level of finishing. These images are not watermarked either, but often have a smaller, digital "signature". When digital files are ordered, I embed licensing info in the image EXIF metadata and, particularly if it's a commercial client, will send a txt doc of the license along with the image(s) too.

Oh, and I also keep a separate LR catalog for each calendar year. That's because LR starts to slow and bog down when it has around 100,000 images in a catalog, and I usually shoot around 50,000 images a year. By the time I cull out the bad, but add back in various versions (RAW, JPEG, TIFF, RGB, CMYK, etc.), finished images in different crops and sizes, yada, yada, I'm usually ending up with 60,000 to 75,000 per year.... so the simplest solution I've been able to think of has been to make yearly LR catalogs.

One thing I haven't solved satisfactorily is a single "All years" Lightroom catalog. I've started one, but with nearly 40 years work (film until 12 years ago), it's been a slow process! Also sometimes I see an image I think I should include... but later change my mind. Or vice versa. Maybe I should just try to have one or a few images representative of what's in each folder in this catalog... I can always go back to the yearly catalog for more complete detail, or just open the folder in my browser to see the thumbnails of everything in it.

It can get complex and feel overwhelming at times. A 3-day event I shot with five other photographers several years ago generated over 20,000 images. A four day event I shot by myself last year produced almost 17,000. Another very busy one day event with some high speed action (and way too many 10 frame per second bursts taken by the photographer!) ended up close to 9000 images.

I can tell you the best time to establish a plan and start organizing is right now! Today! The longer you wait, the bigger and more difficult the job will be. The sooner you start, the better! It's also very difficult to change your archive organization, at a later time. That means a lot of extra work!

Finally, to speed things up, I use a 3TB internal 2nd hard drive in my desktop computer as my "hot storage".... That's where the most recent images go, while I'm doing all the above (it's also got a partitioned 100GB segment that's exclusively for Photoshop to use as a scratch disk, which improves PS performance). Backup is to an external drive about the same size. After a year, I move those to slower "cold storage" on network storage devices. These are older but pretty bullet-proof units that aren't particularly fast, but are fine because I access the images a lot less frequently after a year. Each NAS unit I use has 8TB of hard drives, but is a self-backing-up RAID that provides a little over 5TB of usable space. Each of those is divided into "shares", each of which is a calendar year's work. I get at least three years per NAS unit. Older cameras producing smaller files and other factors allow more years on some of the units. I also have duplicate arrays of NAS, so the originals end up backed up off-site as well. Tempted to use cloud storage, but it would be a huge job to set up and probably not cheap.

The next computer I build will use a large SSD for the main drive and possibly a second, small SSD for a Photoshop scratch disk. I'll probably continue to use "old school" hard drives and the NAS for hot storage of images and their cold storage archives.

All the above complex, but it's really not. Probably takes longer to describe than to actually do it!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I am reading this with great interest. Always room for improvement in editing workflow. I like brucewells color coded system to designate progress.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I have used the method described in the link below with success when editing a large numbers of images.

http://www.chasejarvis.com/photo-editing-101/